


The Chant

by JoelJansenD



Series: Inquisitor Evanna [2]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Mages and Templars, Seekers, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-22 22:20:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16606514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoelJansenD/pseuds/JoelJansenD
Summary: A prompt by AshLyn33 over on the DAOCE Discord: 'A dragging foot, trails of blood, determination, green, a silent plea.'





	The Chant

    'If not for the iron clasps around my ankles and wrists, I could make a run for it.' Evanna thought, staring around the dark, cold room. Two templars stood guard by the door, keeping an eye on every movement she made.  
    'I could tear my way through those brainless apes.' That's how she survived the countless days she spent locked up in here, left at the mercy of the people who called themselves her protectors. But they didn't protect her, nor did they protect any mage in the Circle. They were locked away for weeks at a time. They were beaten, some of them so severely that they were never seen or heard from again. They were broken, no matter who they were or what they had done. The only thing that mattered to the templars was that they were mages, monsters in the sight of the Maker.

Evanna joined the Circle when she was just twelve years old, and in all those years, she had only learned two templars' names: Meredith, the Knight-Commander of the Templar Order of Kirkwall, and Carver, the man who came with her when she first set foot onto the Gallows.  
    'It's alright,' he told her that day. 'Don't worry, everything will be alright.' Just one of the many lies Evanna was told in her life. Just another broken promise.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the hall opposite the door. 'Just another face,' Evanna thought. Their faces were all she remembered of those who tried to break her before. Their faces were all she needed to fulfil her promise, a promise of destruction to those who have wronged her: Carver, Meredith, Bended Nose, Curls, One-Ears, mother, Boney...

The footsteps came closer and were accompanied by voices.  
    'Next door on the right, Walpurga,' she heard the Knight-Commander say. The door opened slowly and revealed the appearance of a pale woman. Evanna felt a shiver crawl down her spine when saw the woman's bright green eyes. Walpurga removed one of her gauntlets as she approached Evanna. With a quick gesture, Evanna's sight blurred. It was as if she had set every inch of Evanna's veins aflame. Evanna felt her head boil. The pain had her screaming, something no templar had managed in months. It seemed to take ages before the pain started to subside.  
    'Sela Petrae,' said Walpurga. Evanna took a moment to catch her breath, but the woman was impatient. This time, the flames inside burned hotter than before, like the woman wanted to hollow Evanna out, reduce her insides to little more than ashes.

The woman repeated herself, but the pain didn't stop. She seemed hell bent on getting an answer, although Evanna did not know the question.  
    'Seeker Arendt, that's enough,' Carver said. Evanna's pain faded.  
    'Are you questioning my methods, Knight-Corporal?'  
    'Merely your suspect, Seeker.'  
    'The subject was chosen by your Knight-Commander. If you disagree, take it up with her.'

When Knight-Corporal Hawke stepped back into position, Walpurga continued.  
    'Sela Petrae,' she asked a third time.  
    'I don't know,' Evanna screamed at the Seeker.  
    Walpurga cared little for Evanna's statement, nor did she care for the begging that followed shortly after.  
    'You might have the templars fooled mage,' the Seeker said, 'but I've made mages crack who were far worse than you'll ever be.'

The interrogation seemed to go on for hours. Walpurga cared little for variety and maintained the same tactics throughout their conversation. Despite the pain, Walpurga never received the answer she was looking for. Eventually, long after Evanna's nose and eyes had started bleeding, Walpurga ordered the present templars to bring the mage back to her cell. The Seeker's actions had rendered her too weak to stand, so the templars dragged her along. Her feet slid over the cold, stone floor. Evanna's robes turned red as the templars pulled her through the blood that came dripping from her face.

The heavy sound of the door to her cell locking echoed behind Evanna. She rolled to her side. She was one of the lucky few who had a barred window through which she had sight of the Gallows's statues. The tears she shed mixed themselves with the blood that dripped on the floor. Softly, she began to recite and repeat her chant.  
    'Carver, Meredith, Bended Nose, Curls, One-Ears, mother, Boney, Eyes...'


End file.
